Tension control mechanism for use in material serving heads



May 9, 1950 2,507,296

Y. A. BOUGET TENSION CONTROL MECHANISM FOR USE IN MATERIAL SERVING HEADS Filed Dec. 18, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lNl/ENTOR V. A BOUGE T ATT'ORNEY May 9, 1950 Y. A. BOUGET 2,507,296

TENSION CONTROL MECHANISM FOR USE IN MATERIAL SERVING HEADS Filed Dec. 18, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR KABOUGET ATTORNEY Patented May 9, 1950 TENSION CONTROL MECHANISM FOR USE IN MATERIAL SERVING HEADS Yves A. Bouget, West Orange, N. 1., assignor to Western Electric Company, Incorporated, New York, N. Y., a, corporation of New York Application December 18, 1948, Serial-No. 66,102

(Cl. 'l'18) 4 Claims.

This invention relates to tension control mechanisms for use in materialserving heads and has for its object, a mechanism which is exceedingly simple in structure which is substantially free from wear and which is highly efficient in maintaining uniform tension in material served to longitudinal advancing cores.

In the manufacture of electrical cables or conductors which are served with spiral windingsv of material such as paper tape during longitudinal advancement of the cable or conductor, the speed of operation of the machine serving the material to the cable or conductor depends largely upon the efficiency of the mechanism employed to control the tension in the material. Numerous mechanisms have been developed in this art to control the tensions of such materials, but these mechanisms have been complicated in their manufacture, installation and maintenance.

In accordance with the aforementioned object, the inventioncomprises a tension control mechanism incorporated in a material serving head which is rotatable at a given speed in one direction to s'ervematerial such as paper tape spirally on a core while the core is advancing longitudinally relative to the serving head at a constant linear speed. A support for a supply of the material is disposed concentric with the serving head and connected thereto through a clutch tending to cause the supply of material to rotate with the serving head, yet permitting relative movement of the supp-1y of material in the opposite direction at varied speeds by the pulling off of the material serve-d spirally to the core. The tension control mechanism included, addition to the support, a rotor fixedly mounted on the support with the supply of material and having recesses in the side thereof adjacent the supply forming fin-like surfaces which are initially covered by the supply and are gradually uncovered as the supply decreases in diameter whereb air propulsion will be applied to the fin-like surfaces of the rotor with a force which increases as the diameter of the supply decreases to maintain uniform tension in the material.

In the present embodiment of the invention, three species of rotors are illustratedeach including recesses with findike surfaces increasing in size from the outer ps1 diary 0:" e rotor toward the thereof to provide an increasing force counteracting the frictional force embodied in the clutch as the lever arm of the supply pad decreases in size, balancing the effect of the "decreasing lever arm, tending to increase the tension in the material and maintain the given tension in the material.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. l is a side elevational view of a serving head embodying one species of the tension control mechanism, portions thereof being shown in section;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational viewof the structure shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line 3-3 ofFig. v2;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary front elevational View of another species of the rotor .of the tension control mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary secional view taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary front elevational view of another species of the rotor of the tension control mechanism;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged fragmentary'sectional view taken along the line l---! of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line '88 of Fig. '7.

Referring now to the drawings, attention is first directed to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 which illustrate one of the species of the invention. The serving head, indicated generally at It, in which the tension control mechanism is incorporated includes a unit H which is rotated at a constant speed, for example, three thousand revolutions per minute and in a counterclockwise direction viewing Fig. 2. The unit M has a central aperture 42 therethrough through which a core 14 such as a cable is advanced in the direction of the arrow (Fig. 1) at a constant linear speed. Suitable guide fingers !5 are supported by the unit H for the material is to travel over when leaving the supply I and a guide finger i8 is mounted on the inner end of a tubular portion ill of the unit I I to guide the material is adjacent the core.

The tension control mechanism includes a support 2! tubular in general contour and mounted for rotation upon the tubular portion H! of the unit H. A slip-clutch indicated generally at 22 is interposed between the support 2! and the unit 1 i applying a variable frictional connecting force between the support and the unit tending to cause the support to rotate with the unit and create a predetermined tension in the material 16 starting ith a full supply ll. In the present embodiment of the invention, the slip-clutch 22 is illustrated V as including a friction disc 24, carried by the unit II and a friction disc 25 carried by the support 2|. Suitable means (not shown) may be provided to urge the support 2| under a variable force toward the friction disc 24 to create a pre-determined connecting force between the clutch elements 24 and 25 depending upon the given desired tension in the material.

The support 2| is of sufficient length to support the supply 51 and a key 21 is provided to assure a positive connection between the supply and the support. A rotor 28 which is disc-like in general contour and equal to or larger in diameter than the full supply !1, is mounted on the support and connected thereto by the aid of the key 21. In this species of the invention, the rotor 28 includes a plurality of recesses 30 as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, these recesses being extremely shallow adjacent the outer periphery of the rotor and becoming gradually deeper until they reach their inner extremities 3|, providing fin-like surfaces 32 extending radially of the rotor which increases in depth from the outer periphery of the rotor to the inner extremities I thereof.

28 and the support 2! in the opposite direction relative to the serving head or unit ll, variable revolutions per minute beginning with one hundred twenty revolutions per minute when the supply is full, as illustrated in Fig. 1, to four hundred eighty revolutions per minute as the supply becomes empty. At the beginning of the operating period of the serving head with a full supply of material I! mounted therein and the tension in the material being that initially determined by the setting of the clutch 22, the tension control mechanism which is mainly embodied in the rotor 28 has no effect on the supply. However, as the material pays off the supply, and the fin-like surfaces 32 are uncovered, a counteracting or retarding force will be applied to the rotor by air propulsion and through the rotor to the supply to assist the supply in moving relative to the unit I l This counteracting or retarding force becomes increasingly greater as more and larger areas of the fin-like surfaces are exposed. At this point, attention is directed to the fact that the unit I! of the serving head is rotating in one direction at three thousand revolutions per minute. The effect of the air during this high speed rotation is utilized against the gradually increasing fin-like surface areas 32 to counterbalance the increasing force necessary to pull the material from the supply to maintain the initial tension in the material.

The species of the invention shown in Figs. 4 and include a rotor 40 which is substantially identical with the rotor 28 having spaced recesses 42 identical with the recesses 30 and equal in number, the only difference lying in the provision of arcuate partitions, or dividing elements :23, closing portions of the recess until those portions have been exposed by the paying off of material from the supply l'l. With this species of the invention, substantially the same result will be accomplished in that fin-like surfaces 44 similar tour, they differing only in size.

,the recesses in the inner surface adjacent the supply I 1. In this species of the invention, a circular row of small recesses 5| are provided near the outer periphery of the rotor while rows of larger recesses 52 and 53 are positioned closer to the axis of the rotor and the largest recesses 54 are formed near the support upon which the rotor is mounted. The recesses 5| to 54, inclusive, are substantially identical in general con- Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate the contours of the recesses 56 showing these recesses tapering inwardly as at 5'6 to fin-like surfaces 51 which will function substantially the same as the fin-like surfaces 32 and 44 of the other species of the invention.

It is to be understood that the above-described arrangements are simply illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readily devised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A tension contro1 mechanism in a material serving head rotatable at a given speed in one direction to serve material spirally on a core, advancing longitudinally relative to the serving head at a substantially constant linear speed, the material being pulled from a supply of the material by the longitudinal advancement of the core to cause rotation of the supply in direction opposite the direction of rotation of the serving head and at a speed which increases proportionally to the decrease in diameter of the supply, the tension control mechanism comprising a support for the supply of material disposed concentrio with the serving head, a clutch operatively connecting the support to the serving head tending to rotate the support with the serving head and create a given tension in the material, and a rotor fixedly mounted on the support with the supply and having recesses in the side thereof adjacent the supply forming fin-like surfaces which are initially covered by the supply and are gradually uncovered as the supply decreases in diameter, whereby air propulsion will be applied to the fin-like surfaces of the rotor with a force which increases as the diameter of the supply decreases to maintain the given tension in the material.

2. A tension control mechanism in a material serving head rotatable at a given speed in one direction to serve material spirally on a core, advancing longitudinally relative to the serving head at a substantially constant linear speed, the material being pulled from a supply of the material by the longitudinal advancement of the core to cause rotation of the supply in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the serving head and at a speed which increases proportionally to the decrease in diameter of the supply, the tension control mechanism comprising a sup port for the supply of material disposed concentric with the serving head, a clutch operatively connecting the support to the serving head tend- .ing to rotate the support with the serving head and create a given tension in the material, and a rotorfixedly mounted on the support with the supply and having radial surfaces initially covered by, the supply and gradually uncovered as the supply d'ecreases in size whereby the retarding effectof the air thereon becoming increasingly greater with the diminishing size of the supply will assist the supply in its rotation relative to the serving head to maintain the given tension in the material.

3. A tension control mechanism in a material serving head rotatable at a given speed in one direction to serve material spirally on a core, advancinglongitudinally relative to the serving head-at a substantially cignstant linear speed, the material being pulled from a supply of the material by the longitudinal advancement of the coreto cause rotation 01' the supply in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the serving head and at a speed which increases proportionally to the decrease in diameter of the supply, the tension control mechanism comprising a support for the supply of material disposed concentric with the serving head, a clutch operatively connecting the support to the serving head tending to rotate the support with the serving head and create a given tension in the material, and a rotor fixedly mounted on the support with the supply and having radially positioned recesses in the side thereofadjacent the supply and initially covered thereby, the recesses having tapered inner surfaces terminating in fin-like surfaces of increasing widths as they extend toward the center of the rotor from the periphery thereof, whereby the gradual increasing retarding effect of air on the fin-like surfaces during gradual decreasing in size of the supply will maintain the given tension in the material.

direction to serve material spirally on a core, advancing longitudinally relative to the serving head at a substantially constant linear speed, the material being pulled from a supply of the material by the longitudinal advancement of the core to cause rotation of the supply in a direction opposite the direction of rotation of the serving head and at a speed which increases proportionally to the decrease in diameter of the supply, the tension control mechanism comprising a support for the supply of material disposed concentric with the serving head,- a clutch operatively connecting the support to the serving head tending to rotate the support with the serving head and create a given tension in the material, a rotor fixedly mounted on the support with the supply and having radially positioned recesses v in the side thereof adjacent the supply and ini- 4; A tension control mechanism in a material serving head rotatable at a given speed in one tially covered thereby, the recesses having tanered inner surfaces terminating in fin-like surfaces of increasing widths as they extend toward the center of the rotor from the periphery thereof, whereby the gradual increasing retarding effect of air on the fin-like surfaces during gradual decreasing in size of the supply will maintain the given tension in the material, and partitions in the recesses dividing the fin-like surface into individual portions to control paths of air directed thereto.

YVES A. BOUGET.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are or: record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,674,527 Shepherd June 19, 1928 2,264,437 Folco Dec. 2, 1941 

